


Odd Man Out

by CassDiV



Category: Dong Bang Shin Ki, K-pop
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-01
Updated: 2009-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassDiV/pseuds/CassDiV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you wanna Talk? Do you wanna Play? Do you wanna Love? Then it's my way or the highway..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Odd Man Out

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in any fandom ever. This is what happened when I was strapped to a chair and made to watch the "T" concert. The slope isn't slippery; it's a damn freefall. ::Bows to Rana and Eliza:: alpha, beta, everything else in between. (Summary taken from AnyBand's "DayDream") First published at http://augurscourtesan.livejournal.com/

"I invited Changmin."

Yunho didn't move for a moment after hearing Yoochun's whispered confession at his shoulder. He raised a hand and rubbed a finger beneath his glasses at a non-existent itch, then finished pouring Jaejoong's drink, and turned to face him.

It was an unexpected move, but as he looked at Yoochun leaning casually against the bar, he began to believe Changmin's invitation had been the idea from the start. He wondered if Changmin was prepared for it. If they all were.

"Does Junsu know?"

Yoochun ran a hand over his mouth, but before he could say anything, there was a knock at the door. "He will now," he murmured, and went to greet his guest.

***

Changmin hesitated at the gate to Yoochun's house, despite the dusk and pouring rain. He turned back for a moment, and the taxi slowed its retreat, the driver keeping an eye on his recent passenger, should he change his destination. Shaking his head, both for the rain and resolve, he opened the gate, and started toward the well-lit front of the house.

"Just a few close friends," Yoochun had said off-handedly, when he had asked about the other players. Poker was something they had found they had in common back before debut, and Yoochun was one of the few who could handle cards better than he could himself. Changmin smiled ruefully, remembering the first time they'd played, realization dawning for both of them that the other was attempting to hustle. The look they'd shared was mutual delight, and since that day, all secrets and tricks had been open between them.

He reached the covered portion of the walk, and took a few seconds to brush rain from his face, passing a hand over his hair, glad he'd tied it back tonight. He moved up onto the porch and, seeing no shoes, decided Yoochun's neatness quirk had spread beyond the house. He knocked twice, warmed somehow by the memories of organizational lectures and any number of superfluous storage units.

It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with Yoochun outside of work. Hell, he missed living with all four of them, sharing every waking and non-waking moment together, constantly amazed how it translated into their music. But the others seemed happy with the separate arrangements, especially Yoochun, now that he had his family back in country, and Changmin was just as content to spend off-time drinking alone as he was to seek company. He frowned for a moment, hearing muted voices through the door, and footsteps. The absence of shoes suddenly meant the absence of specific shoes, and he clenched his fists, forcing himself to relax. No, it wasn't Yoochun's company that made him hesitate tonight. It was the lack of the others' company, the ones he'd be missing.

The door slid open and a familiar face grinned out at him. "Minnie!" Jaejoong gasped, laughing as he was pulled immediately out of sight. Yoochun was in the doorway a moment later, beer in hand, giving him an inviting smile.

"Hey, Changmin. Welcome to the game."

Changmin glanced inside to see Yunho sitting comfortably on a sofa in the next room, sipping a drink. He raised a hand in greeting as Jaejoong, still laughing, collapsed beside him and reached for his own glass. Another familiar face appeared in the doorway next to Yoochun.

"They're all here?" Changmin asked, expectations evaporating.

Junsu snorted. "What do you mean 'they're all here'? What are you doing here?"

"I invited him," Yoochun answered, reaching to pull Changmin inside, and close the door behind him. He turned to face Junsu. "He's here to play."

Changmin watched as Junsu slowly looked at him with surprised challenge in his eyes. Yunho, he could see, was still watching him from the other room. He'd known them all long enough to tell when something was up, and since he'd never seen any of the rest of them even attempt a card game, he wondered why Yoochun had suggested poker.

"You said he didn't play," Junsu accused, glancing at Yoochun.

"I lied," Yoochun answered easily. "He plays better than any of us."

Changmin scowled and started to remove his shoes, shrugging off Junsu's stare. "Yoochun. Why-"

"Don't take your shoes off," Yoochun interrupted, pushing Junsu toward the adjoining room with one arm. Changmin almost fell over at that, straightening to watch Yoochun pull something from his back pocket. He reached for Changmin's hand, laid a deck of cards in his palm, and tapped it twice, meeting his eyes. "You deal."

Changmin opened his mouth to ask any number of questions, but the look on Yoochun's face-trust, encouragement, amusement-stopped him once again. At Yoochun's nod toward the other room he turned, and stamping a foot fully back into one shoe, followed his host in.

***

Yunho knew Changmin still didn't realize what Yoochun had arranged. He watched Junsu play off his uncertainty with his usual competitiveness, watched Yoochun give Changmin the cards. Watched Changmin struggle for a moment before his confusion was under control. He smiled slightly at all of it, approving.

"You took off your hat," Jaejoong whispered beside him, brushing lips and breath over his ear. He smiled wider, watched Yoochun and Changmin find seats around the low table across from one another.

"You took off your rings," he whispered back, hearing Jaejoong's growl of a snicker in response.

***

Changmin shuffled the deck, then again, mentally working the details he had. Once more, he separated the cards, heard the patter of them sliding back together. Looked at the table, empty but for glasses and bottles. Looked around the table at Junsu. Yoochun. Yunho. Jaejoong.

 _Don't take your shoes off._

Patter. Slide. Snick.

 _Poker night with just a few close friends._

Patter. Slide.

 _Oh._

Snick.

His eyes snapped to Yoochun, then Yunho. Jaejoong casually took another gulp from his glass, and Junsu shifted on the floor cushions.

The cards were out of his hands before he let himself think any further. "The name of the game is Asian Five-card Stud." Five cards around the table face down, starting with Junsu on his left. Yoochun coughed over a near-choke, and Jaejoong laughed outright. Changmin paused before dealing the second round, raising an eyebrow to Yoochun. "I assume this is a _stripped_ -deck?"

Yoochun's smile and glance at Yunho was all the answer he needed to be certain. He laid out the next round face up, the cards flying smoothly from his fingers. Junsu looked even more suspicious. He watched as Changmin finished, and grumbled again to Yoochun.

"Just _how much_ better is he than the rest of us?"

"Ten." Changmin spoke before Yoochun. Junsu looked confused, looked at his cards. "You have a ten," Changmin specified again for Junsu, motioning around the table. "Lowest card."

Yoochun glanced around the table at his jack, Yunho's king, Jaejoong's queen, Changmin's ace. "A _lot_ better," he answered Junsu, with a grin, gripping his shoulder and tugging at his jacket. "Take it off."

"How the fuck did you do that?" Jaejoong asked, incredulous. He lifted his hidden card, and attempted to reach for a look at Yunho's pile.

"Already?" Junsu complained. "We haven't even gotten a full hand yet!"

Yunho answered, fingers holding Jaejoong's captive as he protected his dealings. "Stud, Junsu."

He might as well have said, "You know the rules," as Junsu sighed dramatically and peeled out of his jacket.

Changmin held the remaining deck still as he watched two things happen at once. Yoochun reached for Junsu as he turned back, arms now bare in a tank, and leaned to kiss him solidly on the mouth, still grinning into Junsu's pout. At the same moment, Jaejoong freed his hands to grab instead for Yunho's glasses, and Yunho responded by cupping Jaejoong's face and placing a light kiss on his lips.

For months, Changmin had turned away from just this. He told himself it was for privacy's sake, for deniability, to protect his group members even; but sitting here with the four of them comfortably affectionate, _used_ to this game that was suddenly no game at all-he could not deny the longing that shuddered through him. He fingered the cards, not shuffling, but turning the deck between his hands, swallowing hard as he shifted his weight and moved to start his deal.

"Have a drink," Yunho said softly, pushing his still-full glass at Changmin. "You look like you could use it."

He looked at Yunho, surprised by that. "Do I?"

Yoochun laughed, and leaned toward him over the table. "Changmin. You always had the best poker face I've ever seen."

"Even when you're not playing poker," Jaejoong added.

Changmin glanced at Jaejoong sharply, then back to Yoochun. "You taught them to play." He wasn't asking.

Yoochun answered anyway, and this time it was the question. "I taught them to play."

"You're still holding the cards," Junsu attempted, and Yunho echoed him.

"You hold all the cards, Changmin."

He heard it all then, the undertones, the mutual longing. The offers that had been made and raised when his uncertainty showed them little of his hand. Of his heart. All along, he had thought of himself as the fifth wheel, the third in any couple. The unlucky number. The odd man out.

He looked at Yoochun, saw what he'd seen-what he'd done-clearly now.

"No burns," he amended his game call. "Nobody's wild."

"Not unless we all are," Jaejoong quipped, and Changmin laughed, shook his head as he felt the gentle reminder that no one hid among them.

"What does that even mean?" Junsu asked, causing Changmin to laugh even harder. He reached for the drink Yunho had offered, nodding a slight toast before taking several gulps despite Yunho's knowing look.

"Just watch your cards, Junsu," Changmin teased, setting the glass down.

"Better yet, watch his clothes," Yoochun said, getting an elbow in the side. "He tries to sneak things back on," he explained over the protests beside him.

And so they played.

Changmin double-dealt when he wanted to see Yunho lose his shirt. He laughed, breathless, when Jaejoong grinned at him, raised eyebrows and a knowing look of shared appreciation. They fell into worn rhythms of teasing and touch, slapping one another's hands over cards and wrestling articles of clothing away. And instead of turning aside, instead of ducking his head and pretending he hadn't seen, Changmin watched them at it with each other. He felt the rush of inclusion as Yoochun met his eyes while removing a scarf, as Yunho nudged him with bare feet under the table after ditching his shoes and socks, as Jaejoong stilled under his hands, asking for help to unclasp his chain. He caught Yoochun sliding something from his sleeve during another round, and exposed him emphatically (and quite literally) three rounds in a row, much to Junsu's glee. Jaejoong, he discovered, took things off even when he didn't lose. Despite this, Junsu was the first to be down to trousers alone, and after realizing that Changmin himself was still nearly fully clothed-shoes still on-he voiced his suspicions once more.

"I think you're throwing the game," Junsu huffed, last sock tossed away onto an ever-growing pile.

Changmin's answer was to load Yoochun, Yunho, and Jaejoong with royalty, himself with three aces, leaving Junsu only two seven's, a nine, ten and one king.

"How the _fuck_ are you doing that?" Jaejoong asked for the third time, finishing his drink, and sitting back to watch.

Junsu was staring at Changmin, scowling. "Go easy, Junsu," Yoochun said, touching his arm. "He doesn't know."

"What?" Changmin asked mildly, shuffling the deck and meeting Junsu's eyes. "That he often doesn't wear anything under his pants?"

The explosion of laughter was exactly what Changmin had hoped for as Junsu practically growled getting to his feet, hands moving to unbutton his pants. Changmin rose with him, and the laughter subsided quickly, as Changmin reached out to still Junsu, hands steady as when he dealt the cards leading to this.

"Yes," he answered simply. "I threw the game."

It was silent for the moment it took Junsu to realize what Changmin had admitted to. Annoyance and confusion were followed by comprehension coupled with surprise, and Changmin took that moment to tighten his grip, and whisper, "This is what I dealt," before pressing his lips to Junsu's.

***

Yunho felt Jaejoong squeeze his hand as Changmin leaned to kiss Junsu. Yoochun was already moving to steady Junsu from behind, and Yunho nodded toward the three of them, taking Jaejoong's kiss before he, too, joined them.

Changmin had played the game well. Yunho understood why he had chosen Junsu, why he had folded himself into the four of them at that point. While he was an often unbelievable combination of sweetness and sex, Junsu was difficult to predict at times, for all of them. But his actions were pure, and no matter what you ended up with, you could trust it entirely. Yunho smiled as he went to their youngest, who always took the hardest path, worked stubbornly in his own directions, and needed desperately to be so certain. He watched Junsu lift his hand to Changmin's neck, lips quirked in a gentle half-smile; heard Changmin release tension on a breath Yunho guessed he'd been holding long before he came in the door. They surrounded him, the four of them, in their own variation of Changmin's game. The Idol, the Weapon, the Champion, the Ace, and Yunho himself-the one who knew and dealt them as necessary.

Asian Five-Card Stud-no trades, no even numbers, no odd men. Five is what you're dealt, and five is all you've got when the game is called. Five is what it takes to win.


End file.
